The Cecil Whig., 1887-12-17
The American PhYsiqne.

Last spring received letter from an
English gentlemen who is interested in
snthropology and biology, asking me if
there were any facts to sustain the i'm
preston abroad that the white man is
deteriorating in size weight, and condi
ton in the United States | had no posi-
tive information of my own to give, and
| could only refer my correspondent to
the data OF the measurement of soldiers
and 20 some othsr investigation of less
Importance. 1t occurred to me, however,
that since by far the greater part of the
men Of this country are clad in ready
made clothing, tho experience Of the
clothiers might be valuable, and that
from their figures of the average sizes of
the garments prepared by them for mems
use very clear deductions could be MAIDS
- to the average size of the American
man. l therefore sent q letter to two
clothiers in Boston who have been long
in the business, one in Chicago, ono in
Now Y ork, one in Baltimore, one in De
troit, one i'll Texas, and one in Montreal
The information received i'll return is to
this feet:
In any given thousand garments, ths
average Of all the returns is as follows:
Chest measure, 3S inches; waist, 333
inches; length of leg inside, 32t inches;
average height, ranging from itet s. to
feet 9 in New England up to ) feet 10
tor the average At the South and West.
A few deductions of weight are given,
from which one can infer that the aver
age man weighs between 1876 and 100
pounds. These measures cover the aver
age OF the assorted sizes of garments
which are made up by the Thousand.
There are few small men who buy
youths Sizes" so called, and few
larger men who buy extra sizes"
The remarks made ill some OF letters
are interesting. My correspondent in
Chicago states that 80 far NJ relates to
the assertion tnat the racs in this onun-
try detoriates our experience teaches US
that the contrary is tho case. We arc
now, and have tor several ears past been
obliged to adopt larger scale OF sizss
in width, as we'll as leugth, than were re-
quired ten years ago. l find that occu-
patton and residence have great deal to
do with the difference in sizes. the aver
age of sizes required for the cities and
larger towns being much less than that
required for the country. Again, differ
ent sections vary very mneh in those re-
quirements. For instance AN expert
South and South western trade coats
and vests, breast measure 35 to
40, pants always one or two size &
smaller around the belly than the
length of the leg inside; for Western aud
Northern trade, coats and vests. breast
measure, 81 to AZ, pants 80 to 40 around
the belly, 80 to "a length Of leg inside. y
My correspondent in Texas gives ths
average 3S inches chest, SO to "a inches
waist, 32s leg measure, 5 feet 10 inches
height, adding: I'VE find that the waist
measure has increased from au average OF
80 to 33 inches during the past five y oars,
and we think our people arc becoming
siouter built
My correspondent in Baltimore had
previously made tho same statement, to
ha lata bav oaS
that the average sized suit for our South.
ern trade has increased fully ono inoh
around the chest and waist. while there
has been no apparent change in the
length Of pants" l asked this firm il
the change could be due to the fact that
the colored people lad become buyers of
ready made clothing, but have for reply
that the fact that the uegI oes are buying
mere ready made clothing now than pre-
vicus to the war accounts in only q small
degree for the increase Of the size, but is
due almost entirely to the Increased phys
ical activity on the part Of the whites.
The experience Of this firm covers thirty.
five years.
Ny correspondent 10 New York states
that for the last thirty years our cloth
ing, numbering at leas. $50. 900 garments
yearly, has been exclusively sold in the
Southern States. We find the average
mlu to measure 81 inches around tie
chest, 80 TO 33 around the waist-a pc
cuiiarlty in direct contrast TO the Western
man, who measures more around the
waist than i'll the leg"
My correspondent in Canada gives the
following details; experience covers
twenty years, about 500. 900 garments =
year:
Breast measure. 50 81 IS 80 40 Al ~ i.
Cutper 900 OF above
sizes es............ 80 loo 2lo 240 l4o oO o0 20
Average weight Tor
each slzc ........l4U ltU loC lSs lis lsO 200 325
The Information about tho weight
got from n custom tailor Of some years
experience, and cannot, OF course, vouch
for It's correctuesS.'
bly, correspondent in Detroit says: We
notice MARKED peculiarities i'll regions
where dwell people of one nationality
The Germans need la. ge waists and short
legs; She French, small waists and legs,
the Yankees, small waists aud long legs;
the Jews, medium waists and short legs.
We have found decided demand ros
larger Sizes than We formerly used -
This subject is foreign to my customary
work. give these statements as IA mat
ter Of general interest, and perhaps some
Of tho students who are engaged in this
branch of Investigation may take hint
from this method aud extend ii still fur
ther. Possibly the average sizs Of a wu-
man could bs deduced from the data of
the manufacturers OF knit goods. From
what knou of the business OF the cloth
ier. To whom | made application, | should
infer that the figures which | have cub
mitted above would cover more than ono
hundred million garments; and | know Of
no better method OF coming at rough
and ready conclusion regarding the size
OF men than the one which have adopt
ed. The subj-ct has interested me from
the standpoint Of better nutrition. 1t will
be observed that the American man is
decidedly gaining in size and weight
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